Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle seat having anchors that can hold a child seat.
Description of the Related Art
The ISO-FIX standard is known as international standard of systems for holding child seats to vehicle seats. A vehicle seat is disclosed in, for example, JP 2002-211287A. The vehicle seat has anchors that accord with the ISO-FIX standard and can hold an ISO-FIX type child seat.
The child seat of ISO-FIX type has a pair of engagement members, i.e., left and right members, at the rear part. The engagement members are fastened to anchors. The anchors may be arranged at, for example, the rear edge of the seat cushion of a vehicle seat.
An anchor is known, which has been formed by bending a wire member (or solid rod member). The anchor has a pair of side bars (i.e., left and right side bars) and a front bar. The left and right side bars extend forwards and parallel to each other. The front bar couples the upper end of the left and right side bars, and the anchor is substantially U-shaped as seen in the plan view.
The child seat has, at the lower part of its back, a pair of engagement members, i.e., left and right engagement members that extending rearward. Each engagement member has a bifurcated shape in side view and has, at the rear end, a groove. The front bar of each anchor may be engaged in the groove made in the rear end of the engagement member, to hold the child seat to the vehicle seat.
In most cases, the lower arm of each engagement member is shorter than the upper arm, and may smoothly come into engagement with the front bar of the associated anchor.
The anchors are provided at the rear edge of the seat cushion or the lower edge of the seatback. The seat cushion and the seatback are each composed of a frame (i.e., skeleton member, namely seat cushion frame or seatback frame), a pad made of foamed material such as urethane foam and covering the frame, and a trim cover covering the pad. To provide the anchors at the rear edge of, for example, the seat cushion, the seat cushion frame is composed of left and right side frames and two connecting pipes, one connecting the front ends of the side frames and the other connecting the rear ends of the side frames. Therefore, the seat cushion frame is a substantially rectangular frame as seen in plan view. The anchors are secured to the rear connecting pipe and arranged at the rear edge of the seat cushion.
To arrange the anchors at the rear edge of the seat cushion, the pad of the seat cushion has recesses each for receiving the associated anchor. The trim cover has openings each above the associated recess. That part of the trim cover, which surrounds the openings, is processed (i.e., terminal-processed).
JP 2002-211287A describes that the rear ends of the side bars of each anchor are wound around the connecting pipe, from the upper part to the rear part of the circumferential surface of the connecting pipe. The rear ends of the side bars, so wound, are covered with the brackets from back to front. The rear ends of the side bars and the bracket are secured to the connecting pipe by means of welding.
Patent Literature: Japanese Patent unexamined Publication JP 2002-211287A
When the child seat is inclined, with its back lowered, the engagement members provided at the back is engaged with the front bars of each anchor provided at the rear edge of the seat cushion. Since the child seat is inclined, however, each engagement member having a substantially bifurcated shape may bite the trim cover terminal behind the opening. Particularly, the lower arm of the engagement member may bite the trim cover terminal if it is shorter than the upper arm.
If the lower arm of each engagement member enters the opening of the trim cover and bites the trim cover terminal behind the opening, the trim cover terminal is drawn into the groove made in the rear end of the engagement member. Then, the front bar of the associated anchor cannot go to the rear end of groove, resulting in poor engagement. Each anchor may fail to completely hold the child seat to the vehicle seat.
If each engagement member bites the trim cover terminal behind the opening, the trim cover terminal is drawn into the groove, inevitably damaging the trim cover terminal, ultimately impairing the outer appearance of the trim cover.
The brackets is used to secure the anchors is disclosed in JP 2002-211287A. In this case, the recesses made in the pad, in which the anchors are provided, is longer in the front-rear direction. Consequently, the trim cover terminal will likely be drawn into the groove.
An object of one aspect of this invention is to provide a vehicle seat, in which even if brackets are used, the trim cover terminal can be prevented from being drawn into the groove made in the rear end of the engagement member.